1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a jack connector, and more particularly to a jack connector having a housing defining an inclined face for intimately engaging with an oblique front face of a plug connector, thereby preventing a front face of the jack connector from being abraded/scraped by the plug connector.
2. Description of Related Art
Jack connectors are widely used in various applications such as telecommunications equipments, computers and the like. Conventional jacks include an insulative housing defining an interior space for receiving a mating plug and a plurality of conductive terminals extending into the interior space. When the mating plug is inserted into the interior space of the jack connector, an electrical path is established between the mating plug and the conductive terminals of the jack connector for transmitting signals therebetween. Examples of such conventional jack connectors are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-24891 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,404.
Referring to FIG. 4, the jack connector 9 disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No, 53-24981 mates with a plug 8. The jack connector 9 includes an insulative housing 90 having a front wall 91 and a mating portion 92 protruding from the front wall 91. An interior space 93 is defined in the housing 90. A mating opening 94 is defined in the mating portion 92 and communicates with the interior space 93. When the plug 8 is inserted into the mating opening 94, the plug 8 mates with a terminal 95 of the jack connector 9 for achieving an electrical connection between the jack connector 9 and the plug 8. In such design, when the plug 8 is fully inserted into the jack 9, an engaging portion 80 of the plug 8 is in abutment with a mating face 920 of the mating portion 92. Such an abutment causes abrasion of the mating face 920 of the jack connector 9 by the plug 8. The abrasion adverse affects the appearance of the jack connector 9.
To solve above problems, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,404 discloses another conventional jack connector, as shown in FIG. 5. The jack connector 7 includes an insulative housing 70 defining an interior space 71 for receiving a plug 6 and a substantially planar inner wall 710 at a rear end (not labeled) of the housing 70. When the plug 6 is inserted into the interior space 71 of the housing 70, a front face 60 of the plug 6 abuts against the inner wall 710 for preventing the plug 6 from moving too inwardly. Such a design can avoid an engagement between a connecting portion 62 of the plug 6 and a front face 72 of the housing 70 of the jack connector 7. Thus, the abrasion of the front face 72 of the housing 70 by the plug 6 is avoided. However, since accuracy of the planarity of the front face 60 and its verticality relative to a longitudinal axis of the plug 6 is difficult to control during the manufacturing of the plug, a correct engagement between the front face 60 of the plug 60 and the inner wall 710 of the housing 70 is difficult to attain. This in turn affects the quality of the electrical connection between the plug and the jack connector.
Hence, an improved jack connector is desired to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages of prior art.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a jack connector which can reliably engage with a mating plug, and a front face of the jack connector is not scraped by the plug when the plug is inserted into the jack connector to electrically connect therewith.
To achieve the above object, a jack connector in accordance with the present invention includes an insulative housing having an upper wall, a pair of side walls and a real wall. A receiving space is defined together by the upper wall, the pair of side walls and the rear wall. The upper wall has a rear corner portion having an inclined face facing the receiving space. The inclined face intimately engages with an oblique face of a front cone end of the mating plug, thereby preventing the mating plug from moving too inwardly into the receiving space. Thus, an engagement between the plug and a front face of the jack connector is prevented when the jack connector and the plug are electrically connected together. The engagement between the oblique face of the front cone end of the plug and the inclined face of the rear corner portion of the jack connector also helps achieving a good quality of electrical connection between the plug and jack connector when they are mated together.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.